New A’s Scott Kazmir, Jim Johnson, Luke Gregerson in action today

The A’s top offseason pitching acquisitions were on the mound today at Papago Park, and yes, it’s early and it’s hard to tell much from these things, but all three – starter Scott Kazmir, closer Jim Johnson and set-up man Luke Gregerson – looked good.

“It’s easy to see why those guys have had success,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Johnson – you can tell he’s a perfectionist; if he didn’t throw it exactly where he wants, he was upset. Gregerson, if you told him he’d get a million dollars if he threw the ball straight, I don’t know if he could do it, everything moves, even the four-seamer.”

And Kazmir, the new member of the rotation? “Really good,” Melvin said. “I didn’t realize his ball had that kind of carry. The backspin on the ball is good, the carry stays in the strike zone.”

This is Johnson’s first spring in Arizona after spending his entire career with Baltimore training in Florida.

“It’s definitely different,” he said. “The air is thinner, the ball acts differently.”

Minor-league pitching coordinator Scott Emerson watched all the new guys closely, and he called Johnson’s session “outstanding. I didn’t know what to expect but seeing him in person, what jumps out is how good his mechanics are. The ball comes out of his hand so well, he’s on his front foot, the ball is an extension of his hand. So he can put it wherever he wants to.”

Johnson, sounding every bit the perfectionist Melvin believes him to be, didn’t think his mechanics were all that great today, saying, “It’s never smooth.” He has several checkpoints for ensuring his delivery is correct, and he works on it constantly. He said he threw off “terrible mounds” during the winter, so going off the immaculate mounds at Papago made things feel that much easier – sort of a degree of difficulty thing; if he can throw well off a bad mound, it should be that much better off a good one.

Also in action today: second-year starter Sonny Gray and intriguing prospects Michael Ynoa, the bonus baby, and Raul Alcantara, from the Andrew Bailey deal with Boston. Alcantara, who is likely to start the season at Double-A Midland, impressed the development people last year when he went 12-6 combined between Class-A Beloit and Stockton, putting up a 3.22 ERA.

“Every scout I talked to last year remarked on how much better this guy got,” Emerson said of Alcantara, 21. “He went from boy to man. He really improved.”

The issue for Alcantara was his secondary stuff, and last year Emerson told Alcantara early on that he could only throw one breaking pitch, his slider, until he could throw it for a strike at least 60 percent of the time. A month later, he was throwing the slider for a strike 66 percent of the time, and begging to be allowed to throw his curveball – and he threw that for strikes more than 60 percent of the time. He finished in the top five or six in the organization in throwing strikes overall, according to Emerson.

“We expect good things out of him,” said Melvin, who was seeing Alcantara for the first time.

Ynoa, 22, has been limited by injuries, but the talent that led the A’s to give him a $4.25 million signing bonus is still evident. “The stuff is off the charts,” Emerson said. “He just needs to get into games. He throws 97 mph, an easy 97, and has one of the better changeups around.”

Ynoa, a 6-foot-7 right-hander, is likely to open the season at Stockton but he could move to Midland quickly if he has some success. “Oh my God, he has a good arm,” said minor-league catcher Ryan Ortiz, who has been Ynoa’s teammate at several levels.

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That ingrown hair that kept Drew Pomeranz from throwing yesterday actually did cause an infection last week – it was no laughing matter for the right-hander, who says he got “pretty sick” on Thursday, including a fever. The infection on his upper left leg was lanced, and he’s on antibiotics and is close to full strength again. He played catch today, and Pomeranz told me he’s already thrown a lot of bullpen sessions, so he should not be behind the A’s other pitchers when he returns to the mound.

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Outfielder Coco Crisp reported to camp today; Wednesday is the reporting date for position players but many of the A’s are already here.